The publication "Guidance on core indicators for agrifood systems – Measuring the private sector’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals" aims to provide practical information on how food and agriculture companies’ contribution to the SDGs can be measured in a consistent manner and in alignment with countries’ needs relating to monitoring the attainment of Agenda 2030. The indicators are further intended to serve as a tool to assist governments in: improving private sector’s accountability mechanisms and assessing their contribution to SDG implementation, in particular on key transformative actions needed to achieve the SDGs; setting standards and policies for corporate sustainability reporting, establishing national private sector reporting mechanisms, and enabling the reporting on SDG Indicator 12.6.1 (Number of companies publishing sustainability reports); and potentially reusing the data reported by private entities to improve SDG monitoring at the national level. Available in a user-friendly format, the guidance begins with a quick guide that provides a brief overview of the indicators, the audience, scope, and data collection. It is followed by methodological guidance, which provides in-depth detail on the methodology behind each indicator and useful resources for capturing, measuring, and reporting on data for each indicator. Finally, in the annexes, there is a mapping of how the indicators align with various standards and guidance.

“Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators 2021” provides a statistical overview of progress made around the world towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to food and agriculture. The report is the third of a series of annual assessments of the SDG indicators under FAO’s responsibility. Available in digital format, this year’s edition offers detailed analyses and trends on indicators across eight SDGs (1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 12, 14 and 15), highlighting areas of progress and areas where further effort is needed. Also, for the first time, selected indicators for which FAO is a contributing agency and/or have key implications for food and agriculture are analysed. These additional indicators provide valuable insights on agricultural losses due to natural disasters, the distribution of land tenure rights, and the impact of international trade policies and regulations on agricultural trade.

These guidelines have been drawn up as part of the AgrInvest-Food Systems Project (AgrInvest-FS), a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) to promote private investments in African food systems that contribute to sustainable development objectives. The purpose of these guidelines is to serve as a reference and provide practical country-customized guidance to foster sustainable investments in agrifood systems in the four African countries covered by the AgrInvest-FS project of FAO-ECDPM.

FAO and the Global Alliance of Geographical Indications (oriGin) have been collaborating since 2016 to develop the Sustainability Strategy for Geographical Indications (SSGI). This strategy for sustainable GIs aims to highlight and strengthen the relationship between GI systems and sustainability, raise stakeholders’ awareness of their role in GI sustainability and boost the sustainability performance of GI systems. Geographical indications (GIs) are signs used on products that originate from a specific territory and possess qualities or a reputation related to that origin. Through their establishment and management, GIs can stimulate endogenous development when ensuring leadership by local producers, product specifications that are tailored to local conditions and recognition by buyers of products’ origin-linked qualities. This guide provides a practical step-by-step roadmap for GI organizations that wish to engage on their own sustainability journey. The roadmap consists of three key stages: 1. prioritize sustainability topics for the GI system and engage with public and private stakeholders; 2. assess needs and establish a baseline for each priority topic; and 3. monitor and improve the GI system’s sustainability performances, and regularly review the roadmap in collaboration with allies. Communication is the fourth crucial and transversal component of the roadmap; it improves efficiency during the process and allows stakeholders to share and celebrate the results. By following the eight steps outlined in this guide, with detailed guidance, examples and models, GI practitioners will be able to design a sustainability roadmap for their GI system, together with stakeholders.

This catalogue aims to improve the dissemination and outreach of FAO’s knowledge products and overall publishing programme. By providing information on its key publications in every area of FAO’s work, and catering to a range of audiences, it thereby contributes to all organizational outcomes. From statistical analysis to specialized manuals to children’s books, FAO publications cater to a diverse range of audiences. This catalogue presents a selection of FAO’s main publications, produced in 2021 or earlier, ranging from its global reports and general interest publications to numerous specialized titles. In addition to the major themes of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, it also includes thematic sections on climate change, economic and social development, and food safety and nutrition

OECD and FAO have developed this guidance to help enterprises observe standards of responsible business conduct and undertake due diligence along agricultural supply chains in order to ensure that their operations contribute to sustainable development.

The Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) Guidelines were developed for assessing the impact of food and agriculture operations on the environment and people. The guiding vision of SAFA is that food and agriculture systems worldwide are characterized by all four dimensions of sustainability: good governance, environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of agrifood systems to shocks and stresses and led to increased global food insecurity and malnutrition. Action is needed to make agrifood systems more resilient, efficient, sustainable and inclusive. The State of Food and Agriculture 2021 presents country-level indicators of the resilience of agrifood systems. The indicators measure the robustness of primary production and food availability, as well as physical and economic access to food. They can thus help assess the capacity of national agrifood systems to absorb shocks and stresses, a key aspect of resilience. The report analyses the vulnerabilities of food supply chains and how rural households cope with risks and shocks. It discusses options to minimize trade-offs that building resilience may have with efficiency and inclusivity. The aim is to offer guidance on policies to enhance food supply chain resilience, support livelihoods in the agrifood system and, in the face of disruption, ensure sustainable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to all.

This background paper to The State of Food and Agriculture 2023 describes how true cost accounting (TCA) and the lessons learned from its application can inform efforts to develop a sound economic foundation for sustainability in business and finance in agrifood systems. It looks at the current state of TCA in the business and financial sector, giving examples of different initiatives and resources available that have contributed significantly to the development of knowledge and guidance for TCA application within the private and financial sectors in agrifood systems. The paper recognises the value of drawing on the extensive groundwork that has been conducted under various TCA initiatives to develop ready-reference databases and tools for the private sector. It also acknowledges that numerous gaps need to be filled to ensure the mainstreaming of TCA. These include gaps in the standardization of methods, including indicators, impact pathways and valuation factors. Research and guidance are needed to help businesses integrate capital accounting into corporate governance, strategy and performance models. Overcoming these barriers will require coordinated efforts by different actors in agrifood systems.The great challenges of our time call for a new economic foundation for sustainability. The momentum at the international level to reform business accounting and reporting standards can support a transformation towards sustainable agrifood systems. So far, the initial success of agrifood businesses in applying and integrating TCA into decision-making shows that, given the right enabling environment, businesses can contribute to building socially, environmentally and economically sustainable agrifood systems. To achieve this transformation, however, standard-setting is needed to create a level playing field.